Manuel Belletti (born 14 October 1985) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He took a total of 21 professional wins during his career, nine of them on Italian soil. Career Belletti was born in Cesena. Early career The first time Belletti showed his cycling skills to the public was when he participated at the 2004 Italian National Track Championships where he and his team mates Loris Gobbi, Alan Marangoni and Matteo Montaguti cycled to second position at the team pursuit. Nearly two years later he booked his first success in road cycling, with when he finished third in the San Bernardino di Lugo and second in the San Donà di Piave. His first win came in the Giro Ciclisto Pesche Nettarine di Romagna where he won the first part of the fourth stage with the finish in Lugo, Emilia-Romagna. He reached the third spot in the Roncoleva di Trevenzuola before claiming his second career win in stage 1 of the Giro del Veneto in Lonigo. Later that season he finished second in three more races, the Mezzano Inferiore, the Ponton Criterium and the Somma Lombardo. 2007 turned to be another successful year at amateur level as he recorded another four wins, starting off with the Memorial Danilo Furlan and two stages in the Giro Ciclisto Pesche Nettarine di Romagna. Also this season he managed to win a stage in the Giro del Veneto, the fifth stage with the finish in Cassola. Furthermore he finished second in the Trofeo Alcide Degasperi and the GP Cementizillo, while finishing third in the Somma Lombardo. Diquigiovanni–Androni (2008–2009) Belletti signed his first professional contract in 2008 and started riding for . The team sent him to Venezuela to participate in the 2008 Vuelta a Venezuela where he finished three times in second position, in stages 1, 6 and 14. After this stage race Belletti stayed in Venezuela to ride in the Clásico Ciclístico Banfoandes, a race over with the start in Punto Fijo and the finish in Coro. After 3 hours, 38 minutes and 15 seconds Belletti won the race to claim his first professional victory. Also in 2009 Belletti rode some races in South America, this time in Argentina where he came in third in stage 3 of the Giro del Sol San Juan and in stage 6 of the Tour de San Luis. His